Investigators have teased out yet another damaging thread in the villainous web of harms of the opioid crisis. A spike in hepatitis C infections is a costly, long-term, and major health consequence of the hype and disastrous reformulation of OxyContin, the powerful painkiller made by Purdue Pharmaceuticals owned by the wealthy Sackler family. Purdue, in….
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Anti-vaxxer nonsense fueling dangerous measles outbreaks, officials fear
The 44th President implored the members of his staff that a key aspect of their collective success could be summarized by a simple notion: Don’t do stupid stuff. If only many more parents nationwide would concur — and shun the anti-scientific nonsense peddled by anti-vaxxers. As the new year advances, public health officials across the….
Continue ReadingFDA ripped for failures on e-cigarettes and flavors for vaping and smoking
The federal Food and Drug Administration failed to protect the nation’s young against Big Tobacco’s harms with slow-poke responses to the rise of e-cigarettes, as well as tardy regulation of flavorings for combustible cigarettes and liquids used in “smokeless” vaping, health advocates say. The American Lung Association, in its annual “State of Tobacco Control” report,….
Continue ReadingFor frail seniors, program offers choices and supports to keep them home
With the nation fast graying, a long-term care crisis looms, and too many Americans may not realize that not only will nursing home care be tough to find and afford, it also may be less than ideal. But what happens if seniors themselves — especially the frail old — are asked how care-giving services might….
Continue ReadingHarsh reminder of opioid peril: A single smuggling bust seized fentanyl enough for 144 million fatal overdoses
If anyone around doubts still the threat that the opioid crisis poses to the nation, a drug bust involving a vegetable truck in Arizona should provide powerful persuasion: Federal agents, suspicious about the vehicle’s floor, loosed a drug-sniffing dog, resulting in the seizure of not just 395 pounds of methamphetamines but also 254 pounds of….
Continue ReadingWill Rx drug costs fall if U.S. puts squeeze on middlemen and curbs rebates?
The Trump Administration has put out its latest prescription to try to slash out-of-control prescription drug prices: Officials want to call medication “rebates” what they say they’ve really become — “kickbacks” — and crack down on the crazy rise of profit-reaping middlemen in the drug business. Alex Azar, secretary of the Health and Human Services….
Continue ReadingMotoring madness is taking its toll on Americans in an array of ways
If they didn’t create enough havoc already with the deaths and injuries they cause on the nation’s roads, Americans’ cars, trucks, and motorcycles also create other big consternations, including harmful commuting stress, rising pedestrian carnage, and tough calls about when seniors ought to be forced to give up driving. Just how soon will it be….
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